Specialized Resources

Local History Resources

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Universal Class: Novel Writing 101
From character and plot-conflict development to a unique style and specialized writing techniques, writing a novel--while not utterly impossible--requires a dedicated, disciplined approach.

In a discussion of her new book These Truths: A History of the United States, an ambitious look of the origins and evolution of our country from Columbus to Trump, Harvard University’s Jill Lepore poses the question: Can today’s divided nation embrace a shared past?

In an illustrated discussion marking the launch of his book Kansas City Houses 1885–1938, local scholar Michael C. Kathrens spotlights the golden architectural age in which our once rough-and-tumble town evolved into a fashionable city with exclusive neighborhoods on both sides of the Missouri-Kansas line.

The Jazz at Lincoln Center digital concert series spills into Friday Night Fun with a streamed presentation of Wynton Marsalis’ Spaces, combining big band jazz with modern dance in a playful exploration of the animal kingdom.

In a discussion of his new biography Rush: Revolution, Madness, and Benjamin Rush, the Visionary Doctor Who Became a Founding Father, award-winning journalist and historian Stephen Fried examines the famous physician and political progressive who was perhaps the most significant Founding Father you’ve never heard of.

University of South Carolina scholar F.K. Clementi examines the origins of the Holocaust, and looks beyond the rise of Adolf Hitler and German fascism. Pointing to antisemitism, xenophobia, and racism in America in the decades leading up to World War I, she concludes that the mass extermination of Jews likely was the consequence of long-in-the-making design.

As the U.S. Supreme Court begins a new session this week, constitutional law scholar Frank Colucci assesses the transition in its ranks from Anthony Kennedy -- a critical swing vote up to his retirement earlier this year -- to the newly seated Brett Kavanaugh. The impact could be generational.

In a discussion of his new book, best-selling author Eric Jay Dolin separates fiction from sometimes terrifying fact about the seafaring rascals and ruthless renegades who prowled America’s coasts in the late 17th and early 18th centuries – the so-called golden age of piracy.

University of Kansas paleontologist David Burnham discusses his work unearthing several young T. rex fossils in the Hell Creek rocks of Montana, an extraordinarily rare find that promises to shed light on how these creatures grew and developed some 67 million years ago.

Mexican American Baseball in Kansas City highlights the standout teams and players in the greater Kansas City area and other communities in the Sunflower State. Following labor opportunities, Mexican immigrants proliferated in the region in the first decade of the 20th century.